BT Share News (BT.A)

Oil and Libya are set to dominate again after yesterday's frantic trading on oil markets.US light crude for April delivery is currently down $1.60 at $103.84 a barrel. Saudi Arabia and others are going to raise output to keep the global economic recovery on track. That has taken some of the pressure off, but markets remain jittery. In company news, Old Mutual has been through the mill this last six months, but strong growth in new business sales, cost cutting and favourable exchange rates pushed profits up by 14% in 2010.Copper miner Antofagasta is to pay a huge special dividend after profits last year smashed through the $1bn mark as output rose and prices soared. Net profits last year rose by 58% to $1.05bn, from $668m, on revenues up by 55% at $4.58bn from $2.96bn.Spirax Sarco did not match the one-off payment from Antofagasta, but the steam trap and pump maker's shareholders are unlikely to complain as the shares hit a 52-week high. On top of the 25p special dividend the full year dividend for 2010 has been cranked up 19% to 43.0p from 36.1p, as the company announced record sales and profits. Global engineering solutions provider Weir Group enjoyed record margins in 2010 as order input rose by almost two-fifths from the year before. Order input, calculated using average exchange rates for 2010, rose 39% £1,904m in 2010 from £1,366m in 2009, and was up 36% on a like for like basis.BT and Vodafone are going well after a bullish note yesterday from Morgan Stanley. "Telecommunications is our preferred defensive sector," the US broker said "It offers greater potential for a positive growth surprise as well as offering a substantial dividend yield boost over other sectors." Vodafone and BT are both classed as "overweight", with price targets of 225p and 260p respectively.Online betting exchange operator Betfair said its core revenue rose by 6.2% in the third quarter of its financial year from a year earlier. Core Betfair sports revenue in the three months to 31 January rose 8.6% year on year (yoy) to £56.6m, games revenue rose 8.2% yoy to £14.3m but poker revenue fell 20.5% yoy to £5.2m.Plant hire group Ashtead expects to beat expectations for the full-year after narrowing third quarter losses and ramping up revenue by 15%. The loss before tax and one-off items dropped to £1.7m in the three months to 31 January, seasonally the most difficult period, from £12m a year ago. Revenue jumped to £221.34m from £187.3m. Shares in set-top box maker Pace tumbled after hefty one-off costs cut profits growth to a minimum last year. The BSkyB supplier lifted 2010 revenues by 17.4% to £1.33bn, with organic revenues growing 9.7%. Operating profits rose by 32% to £92m, though pre-tax profits rose only slightly to £71m after one-off costs of £19m relating to its acquisitions last year and the closure of its European free-to-air business.